TRUE BELIEVERS
Players fully behind Kenny’s style — Brady
ROBBIE BRADY has pledged his support for Stephen Kenny’s Republic of Ireland revolution which kicks off in Bulgaria tomorrow.
‘Stephen wants to come in and change the way people are looking at us and the way that we play. I know this job means the world to him. It’s great to see that passion he has. The lads will buy into it,’ said Brady.
With 46 caps, Kenny is backing Brady to put injury behind him and star again for Ireland.
‘He (Kenny) was saying I am more than capable of playing at the level I’ve shown before. I’ll have to prove my worth.’
Fellow Dub Enda Stevens has hailed Kenny as ‘a manager who wears his heart on his sleeve’.
‘You can see the passion he has. He wants to implement his identity, and for the players to play the way he feels we should be playing.’
The Irish players and coaching staff all tested negative for Covid-19 before flying out to Sofia yesterday. They will be tested again on their return to Dublin on Friday.
NUMBER 10s, false nines, advanced playmakers, deeplying playmakers. Their titles and specific roles within a team may vary but they all refer to a technical player of vision, creativity and passing ability.
Their numbers have included many outstanding world-class talents, from Maradona, Platini and Baggio, to Zidane, Xavi and Pirlo.
Alas, within the current Republic of Ireland ranks, there isn’t anyone who can hold a candle to those great champions.
In the past, there were creative wizards in green, such as John Giles, Liam Brady, Ronnie Whelan and the under-used Wes Hoolahan. Not now.
The squad selected by Stephen Kenny for tomorrow’s Nations League opener in Bulgaria is one of water-carriers and wood-cutters, rather than artistes and aristocrats.
For a manager whose preference is to include an advanced central midfielder in the ‘No10’ position, the options are limited, although Jack Byrne of Shamrock Rovers was an option. ‘I don’t think in the squad we have a natural No10, at all,’ acknowledged Kenny.
One player who is more comfortable on the ball than most, and has played in midfield behind a lone striker for Ireland before is Robbie Brady, whose recall to arms is welcome.
We’ve seen little of Brady, now 28, since the finals of Euro 2016, due to injury and a lack of matches at Burnley, but that could change under Kenny as one of his projects is to extract the best out of Brady.
First, he has to find his best position. With Ireland, Brady has played at left-back, left midfield and left of a central three.
He also played wide on the right under Mick McCarthy against Denmark and Georgia, while Martin O’Neill deployed him behind Daryl Murphy away to Bosnia-Herzegovina in the Euro 2016 play-offs, where he scored a critical goal.
As Kenny assesses his midfield options for tomorrow, the candidates for the No10 position are occupying his mind.
‘You look at the characteristics of the players and you think how can we make the team the best it can be? That’s the way I look at it.
‘It doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll play the way the Under-21s played, when they played 4-2-3-1.’
‘Robbie can play there, but he hasn’t played there very much. Jeff Hendrick has played there at times but is better coming from a deeper position.
‘Alan Browne can play in there and has played there for Preston but is a running No10 who runs beyond the centre-forward.’
As for Brady, Kenny stressed how ‘he needs to get regular football and bring him up to speed’.
That observation suggests Brady may be kept in reserve tomorrow as Kenny considers Conor Hourihane and Jayson Molumby for a starting role in the engine room.
‘The characteristics Robbie has suits the left side of a midfield three. That’s where he has been quite effective.
‘Robbie played as a wide right for Ireland last year in a 4-5-1. He has been very successful as an attacking left back as well while Burnley see him as a 4-4-2 left winger.
‘He can play in a lot of positions but it is very competitive in the midfield at the moment. It is a really competitive area for us.’
The problem for the versatile player is that they don’t always start when everyone is fit and Brady needs to get back to where he was in 2016 and 2017, before his knee injury, as one of the first names on the team sheet. His dead-ball deliveries were crucial under O’Neill, while his creativity in open play was a useful foil too. At the Euros in France, Brady soared, scoring twice, against Italy and France, becoming only the second Irishman after Robbie Keane to achieve that feat in a major finals.
‘I haven’t reached the heights I wanted to since that tournament,’ he acknowledged.
‘I felt as if I had a really good season leading into that tournament and then a bit of a slow start at Burnley and then I picked up an injury which had an effect on me for the time I was out.
‘When I come back I expect to be as good as I was before but it is a long process and I’ve had to get my head around that.
‘I haven’t had enough football to get me back to where I needed to be but I’m fit and sharp and I’m ready. I still feel there is a lot more ahead of me.’ To become as indispensable to Kenny as he was to O’Neill, Brady needs to be a regular at Burnley, not picking up splinters on the bench like last season where he figured in 17 Premier League games, 12 of them as a substitute.
‘I’m not ready to have another season like last season, being a bit-part player, it’s not what I want,’ he admitted.
‘I’ve got a good pre-season under my legs now and the (Ireland) games are coming at a good time for me.’
Kenny clearly has faith in Brady and even if his exact role has to be defined, the Dubliner knows he’s wanted and that’s a spur in itself.
‘I’ve had in-depth conversations with Stephen. He has been great for me.
‘It’s good to hear when someone knows what you’re good at. You know they’re not making stuff up on the spot.’
Whether it’s tomorrow in Sofia, or later this autumn it’s time ‘The Lion of Lille’ roared again.
‘I haven’t hit heights I’ve wanted since Euro 2016’